Thankfully your flight wasn't first thing in the morning. You would have died if you'd had to get up that early. You made sure to say your goodbyes to Tom and Kelly and thank them for inviting you to the premiere. It had been a lot of fun.

"Are you two attending the masquerade ball this year?" Tom asked you before you left.

"What masquerade ball?" Loki asked. Poor soul. He would find out soon enough.

"It's an annual event the Avengers throw for charity. It's coming up in about a month. We'll be there," you told explained to Loki and added the last part for Tom. You were already planning to attend.

"We will see you there, then," he replied with a grin.

"Why have we not attended this ball before?" Loki asked as you were waiting for your plane in the airport later that morning. You were still both barely awake.

"I wasn't going by myself last year. The year before... there was some emergency? I think it was when we were in the infirmary after our battle with Balder. I've attended almost every year, though I've never been able to participate in the super's waltz at the end of the night," you told him a little wistfully.

"The super's waltz?" he asked, noting your expression.

You nodded and continued on to explain. "Everyone who attends the ball wears a mask. The supers all wear their costume masks to protect their human identities, even though everyone will know their superhero identities from the masks. It's part of the fun. Anyway, the last dance of the night is the super's waltz where all of the supers in attendance are the only ones who dance it. I've never attended while I've actually been able to participate," you explained. It was something you'd wanted to do since you'd moved into the tower.

Loki nodded and gave you a warm smile. "It sounds like fun,"

"It is. I've gone nearly every year since you was a kid. It was the exact kind of thing my parents had enjoyed doing, and was the one night a year they could get me to wear a dress when I was little. Some of the supers have been my friends since my first ball," you added, smiling fondly at the memories from all of those balls and dancing with all of the supers through the years.

"Then we will most definitely attend," Loki replied. He would do anything that made you so excited.

*

It took forever to get back home. The flight was long and Loki was grumpy. Loki grumbled that you were never travelling that far the human way again. You didn't blame him. You tried telling him to sleep on the plane, but he was too stressed by flying to even think about sleeping. You laid your head on his shoulder while you were in the air, not expecting to actually sleep, but you didn't wake again until the plane was landing. You looked up at Loki with an accusing look. He tried to look innocent. You didn't believe him. You had needed the nap, so you didn't yell at him for spelling you to sleep.

You finally made it home, where you was greeted by hugs from Tony and Pepper. Pepper hugged Loki too. Loki looked put-upon and grumbled, but he was pleased that he was accepted "Glad you're home, Kat," Tony greeted you warmly. "Fury wants you two in the training room in ten minutes," he added with a grin. "Veronica told him when you'd be back. She's left by the way, went back home with her husband since she wasn't needed here anymore,"

You sighed. "Guess we have work to do," you told Loki as you shoved Tony off of you. Of course work started the second you got home.

"So it appears," Loki agreed.

"Workout clothes," Tony called as you grabbed your bag to rush upstairs so you could get changed and get back downstairs in ten minutes.

"Darling, we have magic," Loki reminded you before you made it to the stairs.

"Oh...right," you vanished your bags up to your room and used magic to change into workout clothes.

"Why do your workout clothes not include a shirt?" Tony demanded with a growl when he saw what you were wearing.

"A sports-bra is a shirt, or do you not remember than you guys are usually shirtless before the halfway point of Fury's exercises?" you reminded Tony grumpily.

Tony huffed, but couldn't argue on that particular point, much as he wanted to. "Come on, then. We're training with you guys too," Tony said as he took Pepper's hand. It was then that you realized that both of them were in workout clothes too. Loki vanished his bag, changed his clothes, and came up beside you so you could all walk together.

"How was the premiere!?" Pepper asked as you walked down to the training room. "You guys looked so amazing!" you had forgotten the event was televised. So you chatted with Pepper about the premiere and how much fun you'd had with the cast.

"Come on, you four. We're waiting on you!" Fury called when you got to the room. There were pairs of awkward-looking supers all around the training room. Most of them were rookies, supers who were new to the team this year. You smiled when you had an idea what this was.

/This will be fun/ you told Loki.

/What is this?/ Loki replied as you went out on the training room floor to stand like the other pairs.

/You'll see, if I'm right that is/

"You will all be dancing the super's waltz this year, which means you all need to learn how to waltz," Fury announced.

You tried to hide your grin and you saw Loki fighting to hide his as well. No one had told Fury that you could dance better than anyone in this room. Tony smirked over at you. He knew how well you could dance. You briefly wondered why he was there, he could dance and had been going to the ball for at least as long as you had. You then saw that his partner was Pepper. That would be why. She hadn't been a super last year for this particular waltz, though really it wasn't that different than any other. "Tony, Kat, you know you two already know the steps. Demonstrate for them for the others," Fury ordered. You summoned a t-shirt over your sports bra, which Tony gave you a look of thanks for. He didn't like seeing that much of your skin.

You took your place in front of him when Pepper graciously stepped aside. You both took the position and the music started. Tony wasn't as graceful as Loki, but he knew the dance and knew the moves. You started slow, for the benefit of the others, but soon you were twirling your way across the floor. You had danced with Tony before when you were growing up, so your dance was almost as smooth and graceful as your dancing with Loki was. You were both laughing and smiling from remembered dances before the song was over.

"Stop showing off," Fury grumbled. "You were just supposed to show them the basic steps." You and Tony both sighed and went back to demonstrating the basic steps. Fury announced directions to the others while they could watch you. Fury clapped his hands and Tony and you could finally stop dancing together and both went back to your actual partners the second you could. You loved your uncle, but you'd much rather dance with Loki.

/Wanna show off?/ you asked Loki when you had taken your place back in front of him.

/Of course/ Loki grinned at you. Tony gave you a knowing look from where he was getting into position with Pepper.

The music started again. You and Loki danced the basic steps for about two executions of the six steps, then you broke off and began twirling your way across the floor with a fluid grace that Tony just hadn't been able to match. This was the type of dancing that Loki loved, and you saw the joy in his eyes as you made our way around the room.

There were applause when the music ended again. Loki bowed elegantly and you dipped into a well-practiced curtsy, even though you were in pants and not a skirt today.

"You didn't tell me that you already know how to dance," Fury grumbled at you both, though mostly directed at Loki.

"The question was not asked," Loki replied pleasantly. Fury just laughed.

"You two can help the others," Fury barked. You sighed, but did as you were bid and moved around the room helping the others, as did Tony and Pepper.

There would be many more practices over the course of the next month. It was a point of pride to Fury to have all of the supers dance the waltz well.